


Burger Queen

by LockedHerselfOut



Category: Placebo (UK Band)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:46:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23010424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LockedHerselfOut/pseuds/LockedHerselfOut
Summary: Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal attend AISL ... and something special blossoms.
Relationships: Brian Molko/Stefan Olsdal
Comments: 8
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Placebo. I make no money off this story.

**Luxembourg.  
September, 1989**   
  
Stefan heard the school bell ring, sighing softly as he threw the book he was reading for history class in his backpack. One could truly only read so much of the Trojan War and not start to drift off a little. He got it. There was a wooden horse and the Trojans fell for it. And his friends were little help, though they were in the same history class in the same small class in the same small damn school- the only Trojan they were fluent in were the condoms.   
  
Throwing his bag over his shoulder, he got off the bench and started down the paved path towards ‘American International School of Luxembourg’. Oh joy! Another day… another bore.   
  
“Hey Stefan- you going to practice tonight?”    
  
The tall boy jumped at the sudden blast in his hear- looking over at his friend, Brendon. The same Brendon who had been his best friend since he had moved to Luxembourg from Sweden as a kid. They had plenty in common over the years, even though Brendon had been all about the basketball team lately since the new school year had started. It was practically all he had talked about. Year 11 had started and though he was going to be 16 next March- he felt more like a child and less of an adult that he was getting closer to month by month.    
  
“I guess, yeah,” Stef sighed, not sounding anywhere near as enthusiastic as his buddy.   
  
“You guess?!?”   
  
The bell for class rang- forcing their conversation short, which to be quite honest- was a godsend for the Swede.   
  
*-*   
  
“I hope you all finished your assigned reading,” started Mr. MacPherson as the boys walked into the room, followed by plenty of other students- making their way to the desks last minute. Their history teacher was not someone he wanted to get on the bad side of as he was year 11 AND year 12’s history teacher- split class as always. If he made MacPherson hate him this year- he’d hate him next year too!    
  
Stef sighed to himself for the hundredth time that day (and it was only in the AM)- he was having a case of the Mondays and it was Wednesday! He knew full well that he hadn’t finished his reading; he hadn’t gotten past page three! He had attempted but had given up. He was just so unmotivated, summer hadn’t been long enough. And this was not a good way to start off the second week of school. His parents expected a certain grade point average from him because they knew he was more than capable. The downside of always getting good grades, you couldn’t let them ‘slip’.    
  
“PST!” said one of his friends behind him- another boy that played on his team.   
  
“I know it’s a new year, ladies and gentlemen, but that is NO excuse to not have your work completed. That goes for both years- but it’s especially important to my graduating class… year 12 grades matter- remember that…”   
  
Blah blah blah… rant rant rant… every teacher had the same one- sure a few words changed here and there, but it was all the same. He looked behind him at Trent poking him, pretending to dribble a phantom ball- obviously asking about practice. Stef just rolled his eyes and looked away.    
  
“Pull out the books you were given Monday. You had two nights to read the first two chapters on the Trojan war I assigned, so let’s review.”   
  
Fuck. Stef put his head down on his desk as the normal shuffle and noise of bags and zippers from binders were heard, everyone grabbing their book. Stefan felt it in his bones- this was going to be a slow year.    
  
“PST!!! Stefan! You do the reading? What was it about?!” The Swede silently shook his head- not even looking up.    
  
That is until the class was disturbed by a knock on the door. Mr. MacPherson looked over- as did everyone else- calling in whoever it was to come in.   
  
As usual, when one is ‘late’ for class, every pair of eyes in the room looked over at the poor soul you didn’t make it on time. The class wasn’t huge for a split 11/12 history class, but there was still around 25 faces all looking to pass judgment and whisper as teens always do.    
  
Stefan lifted his head as the short boy, books in hand with a little white piece of paper walked over to their teacher- passing him the small looseleaf before pushing some of his black curls behind his ear.   
  
This boy had curly black hair, obviously not natural by the more than noticeable brown roots, that fell past his ears, but not quite long enough to touch his shoulders. Blue jeans and a purple t-shirt made up his ensemble- and a little tighter than what most boys would wear. Chipped nail polish covered his nails partially as he held onto his books tight like someone was ready to snatch them from him. His lips were a little redder than anyone else’s in the room and his eyes were a little brighter, a greenish-blue shade that you’d only find in the ocean. His eyelashes were a little longer and his lips a little fuller. On top of all that, his face was what could only be described as ‘pretty’. He stood in front of the class frozen, glancing around at all the faces as the whispers began, but Stefan could only stare. He had never seen anyone like him before. Especially not in a palce like Luxembourg.    
  
“Oh my god, where did this freak fall from?!” chuckled Trent behind him.   
  
“Maybe the circus stopped in Luxembourg,” whispered Brendon, both of the boys sharing a grin at their joke.    
  
“Alright class, we’ve had new students before. Nothing new! Hush,” the teacher snapped, quieting the class’s murmurs. “Joining our year 12 history class… you’re Brian Mole-kow?”   
  
“Molko,” the small boy corrected. His voice was high, a tad nasally and the class only snickered at that too.    
  
“Molko, sorry. Say hello, class,” instructed Mr. MacPherson as the class said “hi” in unison- a quick, short monotone greeting. “This is a small school, small town, and everyone knows everyone. So why don’t you tell everyone something about yourself?” he asked, smiling as he took his seat behind his desk for a few moments, crossing his legs and staring at the new boy.   
  
This Brian Molko stayed quiet, pushing some more black curls behind his ear again that just didn’t want to stay in place as he clung onto his books.    
  
“Um, my name is Brian… I’ll be 17 this December… my family just moved here from Scotland. I spent most of my childhood living there. We moved here because my dad is a lawyer and he joined a new firm here in Luxembourg. So… here I am,” he finished, looking down at the floor. Mr. MacPherson smiled, getting up hastily and putting a hand on the boy’s back and patting him. “We’re glad you could join us, Brian. Why don’t you take a seat, there’s an empty one right upfront since my class is so ENTHUSIAED about history, most have migrated to the back,” he sighed as some of the kids coughed, looking at each other.    
  
Brian nodded, moving to the front seat near the middle. Stefan felt bad for him, poor kid having to have all those eyes on the back of his head. Least if you sat near the back, you got to know who was looking back and staring at you.    
  
“He looks like such a chick, don’t you think, Stef? Maybe he is one of thoe people on TV- that get sex changes,” whispered Brendon, saying it in more of a shocked-tone than a joking one. Stefan looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.    
  
“I saw that on the discovery channel!” whispered Trent harshly. The Swede said nothing, rolling his eyes as he began to open his book up.   
  
As the class began, he couldn’t help but look up the row next to his own, near the front… and stare at the back of the new boy’s head. Page 3, page 4, MacPherson kept talking as they went through it, but his gaze was stuck long after the others had gotten bored of the new addition to the class and had gone back to whispering about weekend plans, passing notes, or pretending to listen while trying to sleep behind their textbook.    
  
But Brian must have sensed it as he turned around in his seat and looked right at the Swede. By the time Stefan realized that the small boy was staring right back at him, he quickly looked down at his book- pretending to follow along with the rest of the class… as smooth as a pineapple. Brian just smiled at him and turned back to look at their teacher who was far too passionate about the damn Trojan war to begin with.   
  
The Swede thanked his lucky stars that MacPherson didn’t call on him for anything- he would have been more lost than a needle in a haystack as not only had he barely read a word, he hadn’t paid attention to a word he had said. When the bell finally rang, everyone quickly hustled to get up and get out- thankful for one piece of the day done as MacPherson rolled his eyes at the lack of interest in their topic- not that he was surprised.    
  
“Okay class, read chapter 2 and 3- we’ll discuss it tomorrow!! Brian I know you have to catch up, I’ll give you a book and give you an extra day or two to get the reading done,” he said quickly, passing him the textbook before shuffling through his papers at tomorrow’s lesson plan.   
  
“I can catch up quickly,” piped up the small boy as he thanked him- sticking it in his binder.    
  
“Ah, that’s the kind of dedication I like to see,” MacPherson said, laughing. “See you tomorrow.” Stefan followed every step the short boy made as he walked out of class, unable to stop himself from gawking.   
  
“Isn’t he weird?” said Brendon, laughing, grabbing his own binder. Stef just nodded slightly, not wanting to really discuss him with his friends. He was a little fascinated with this new kid and his friends he knew probably had nothing but rude comments to leave- so the discussion would go nowhere fast. “Want to come over after practice? To read this shit?” he asked, sighing as Stefan nodded again, checking back into reality. It was probably a good idea to try and get some reading done with a friend. “We can each read half and tell each other what it’s about- way quicker!”   
  
“Agreed,” said Stef.    
  
“Can I get in on this?” Trent asked, probably the stupidest out of all of Stefan’s co padre’s. He knew most of his ‘pals’ through b-ball and let’s just say quite a few of the basketball players weren’t exactly known for their intelligence level.    
  
“We’ll each take one third,” said Brendon. “Perfect!”   
  
“How do you know it’s one third??” asked Trent, bewildered.   
  
“Because there is three of us you idiot,” sighed Brendon. Trent nodded, like he finally understood.   
  
“Oh right! I knew that!” he laughed. Stef just let out something between a laugh and a scoff.   
  
“I’ll see you guys at lunch,” said the Swede quickly, putting his bag on his shoulder- heading off to his locker. History done- now on to biology. He really hoped the rest of the year wasn’t going to feel like such a drag. His parents were already talking about universities, he didn’t need stress on both sides- not to mention he wasn’t even graduating this year.   
  
Reaching his locker, he began to turn the lock when he noticed the new boy maybe eight locker doors down from him, struggling with his combo- staring at the little numbers on the sticky note like they were a foreign language- trying to turn the combo to match. Stefan began to gawk at him, the way he pulled at the lock, the way he moved- sighing annoyed like a female while pushing some hair out of his face.    
  
Once again Brian felt the set of eyes on him and looked over. The moment the Swede saw those giant saucer eyes look up at him, he turned away, having to start his combo all over because he forgot what number he had been at.    
  
“Fuck,” whispered Stef under his breath.   
  
“Is there a kick-me sign on my back?” squeaked the small boy, making the Swede jump and look up at him with wide-eyes, suddenly not knowing what to say. Looking around the hallway to make sure he wasn’t talking to someone else around him.   
  
“Huh?” was all Stef could muster.   
  
“A kick-me sign on my back. Is there one?” asked Brian, giggling and turning to show the back of his purple t-shirt to the much taller boy.” Stefan just shook his head quietly. “I thought maybe there was after all the staring you did in class… and just now,” joked Brian, looking down at his lock to attempt it again.    
  
“Oh,” said Stefan quietly, mentally smacking himself. Stupid to think the guy wouldn’t notice. “Sorry, my mind wanders easily. I didn’t realize.”    
  
“Wandering like a loose puppy, apparently,” chuckled Brian, giving a sly grin and cocking an eyebrow. “Can you help me with this?” he asked, pulling at the silver lock again. “Stupid fucker won’t open for me! I hate lockers!” Stefan stared, swallowing hard as he opened his own rapdily, grabbing his biology book and hurrying over to Brian.    
  
“Sure, I can try,” he said, sounding nervous as he looked at the little sticky note to read his combo. “14-16-22.” One try- and the lock clicked open. Ah, smooth, Stefan! The Swede smiled at his success, passing him the little note back. “It’s not the lock,” he laughed. Brian leered at the little metal device, glaring at it like it was against him before they both shared a tiny laugh.   
  
“Thanks, I guess I’ll have to practice,” sighed Brian as he threw his backpack in the small metal ‘closet’.    
  
“What do you have next?” asked Stefan, “I can tell you how to get there.” He scratched his neck nervously, giving a small friendly smile- attempting to stay as casual and cool as possible.   
  
“Thanks,” said Brian, grabbing his schedule from his back jean pocket, a little tube falling out while pulling out the paper. “Oops!” Stefan leaned down to pick it up for him, looking at the red tube that read ‘Berry Blast’- it looking like some type of lipstick.    
  
“Here you go,” he said softly, still looking at the tube.   
  
“Thanks,” he said cheerfully, taking it and shoving it back in his pocket, turning his attention back to the paper. “And I have English with Einarson?” Stefan chuckled quietly.   
  
“Everyone has English with Einarson,” replied the Swede. “Just go up the stairs, two doors down on your right. She has a Shakespeare poster on her door.” Brian laughed, grinning as he put it back in his pocket.   
  
“Of- COURSE she does. Thanks a lot,” Brian finished, pushing some of those black curls behind his ear again and grabbing his binder- closing his locker and locking it. “See you around.”   
  
“Yeah… see you around,” said Stefan softly, watching the boy walk away- his petite little body moving in those tight jeans and t-shirt. He was a lot cuter than the Swede wanted to admit to himself- though he quickly shook the thoughts out of his head. It’s not like Brian was one of the cute girls on the cheerleading team- so why did his stomach just have a few butterflies, he had not a clue. “Because he caught me staring,” he said to himself. “That’s just awkward.” The tall boy nodded to himself, thinking that was a decent enough excuse.    
  
The bell rang for next class, Stefan about to hurry off to bio but looked down to realize in the heat of the moment, he had grabbed the wrong text book after Brian had asked him for help.    
  
“Smooth, Stef, smooth,” he sighed to himself. This day was just getting better- at this rate he was for sure going to end up in detention before it was through.    
**  
TO BE CONTINUED….**


	2. Chapter 2

The lunch bell rang and the students herded like cattle towards their lockers and the cafeteria. Stefan received a fair bit of notes in biology and his wrist hurt like a bitch- flicking it a bit to relieve the tension as he made his way out in the busy hallway.

“DUDE! Clarissa just asked me if I, ME, if I wanted to go to the big bonfire she’s throwing at her house!” Brandon had practically squealed right in the Swede’s ear out of excitement- looking around rapidly to make sure she wasn’t around to see him freak out like a loser. Stef laughed and gave a smile.

“Congrats!” He was happy for him- Brendon had been crushing on Clarissa for the past two years. At least someone was having a good day. 

“AND.”

“There’s an ‘and’?” Stef repeated, grinning.

“You know her friend,Georgie? The cute blonde?” he asked- knowing full well that the taller boy knew exactly who he was talking about. Stef just nodded, cocking an eyebrow. “Clarissa told me Georgie likes YOU! You should so go ask her to go with you, man! Like a double date!” he said excitedly like a kid in a candy shop. The Swede tensed instantly- he wasn’t so thrilled about the idea of it, parties alone usually made him uncomfortable. No matter how many basketball mates or friends he had, he always felt out of place. 

“Oh…. Uh, well, y’know, I don’t think I’m gonna go,” he said softly, turning away like it was no big deal to walk to his locker. Brendon’s eyes widened as if they were going to pop out of his head and followed him swiftly.

“Uh- WHAT?! Are you crazy?! Why not?!” he spat, staring intently while Stef casually grabbed his lunch bag from the top shelf of his locker- as it was the easiest for the ridiculously tall boy.

“I’ll probably have lots of homework or something, but you have a good time,” continued the Swede casually, trying to keep his cool when he knew damn well Brendon was going to be furious. 

“You’re nuts, Stef!! You’re going to kick yourself later if you don’t go! I thought this could be the night you and I would finally lose our v-cards!” he said harshly, keeping his voice low so people in the hallways wouldn’t hear him. “We’re like the only ones on our team left who HAVEN’T!” This time Stef’s eyes widened as he looked at his pal.

“You told Trent you di-,” Brendon cut him off quickly.

“I lied!” he whispered, “I didn’t want to be a loser!” Stef looked at the floor quickly, knowing full well he had a nice shiny v-card. He hadn’t even gotten close enough to even kiss a girl, much less have sex with one despite what everyone on his team thought. “You’re nuts, Stef! You’re going to kick yourself later if you don’t go! Think about it, you have to come!” he huffed, looking as disappointed as a spoiled rotten kid who didn’t get what he wanted for Christmas, arms crossed and everything. 

Stef nodded quietly, hoping the subject would be dropped and forgotten soon as they made their way to the cafeteria towards their usual table near the sports murals that had been painted by the art students. The mix of their usual ‘gang’ was there, mostly guys from basketball- as always.

“Guys, please tell Stef he has to go to Clarissa’s party next Friday!” everyone looked at the Swede shocked like not going to this ‘beginning of the year’- party was practically the same as killing a puppy. Stefan just sighed to himself, rolling his eyes. Brendon just HAD to bring it up while everyone shot a ‘huh!?’, ‘what?!’ and ‘why?!’. 

“We always have to force you! Come on, Stef! You’re stressed out and it’s only September. You have to learn to relax, let loose!” said Trent, the others agreeing, all talking at once. It was more than Stef could handle..

“What he needs,” piped up Rodney, one of the others on his basketball team “it’s a girlfriend.” The others hollered and laughed.

“No, kidding,” sighed Brendon, giving him a friendly push. Before Stefan really got a chance to sit down at the table, he tensed up again. He always hated having this topic of conversation with his friends. It always got so uncomfortable, he never had anything to chime in and say, nor did have this huge interest to fuck the hottest cheerleader like his friends did, he just felt like the odd one out and it got a little worse every year though his group of friends remained the same. Grabbing his lunch bag, he got up, hoping he could avoid it by walking away, though he knew it was only putting it on hold temporarily. 

“I think I forgot my textbook in bio, I’ll see you guys later,” spat the Swede quickly, starting off before they could really say another thing to him. And quite frankly, that was the plan! Maybe he could eat in peace somewhere outside. He gave them all a wave and walked off with his little brown lunch bag in hand out to the bench he had been sitting on earlier when he had tried to read all about the fascinating Trojan war. And yes, fascinating was sarcastic, staring at his feet as he walked. However, he stopped right in his tracks when he realized that the new boy was sitting in his spot- actually reading about the Trojan War.

Brian looked up from his textbook, taking a bite of the apple he had in his lap. 

“You sure like to stare,” he giggled, a coy little smile playing on his lips just like before. The Swede swallowed a bit before he finally mustered a ‘hello’- noticing how the boy crossed his legs like Tina in their class did. With such poise and grace like it just came naturally- like a lady. 

“You’re actually reading that during lunch?” he asked, sounding surprised while chuckling nervously, putting both hands in his pockets- a horrible habit he had. The smaller boy nodded.

“I have to catch up!” he replied smiling, turning the page. The Swede cocked an eyebrow.

“How is it?” he asked, laughing. “Can I sit next to you? I came out for some air.” Brian nodded, moving over a little to make more room though he was so small, he didn’t really have to move at all. 

“Sure! It’s pretty interesting, actually. If that little cunt, Paris, hadn’t taken that guy’s pretty wife- they wouldn’t have gotten into this mess!” Brian laughed, referring to the text.

“I can’t concentrate long enough to read it,” sighed Stef, “I’ve tried!” 

“It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I suppose. I’ve had to read worse for history, though,” he laughed, looking back down at the page. The taller boy nodded as they sat in silence for a few seconds, or it could have been a few minutes- he wasn’t too sure.

“So… excuse me for being blunt,” started Brian, resting his textbook on his lap and taking a quick chomp out of his apple, staring at Stefan. “But you don’t look like the type who sits alone on a bench during lunch,” he finished, still chewing on the fruit. The sentence was followed by a few giggles in hopes he hadn’t just offended him too badly, as he looked at him next to him for a reply, any type of reply. Stef stared at the odd, pretty-looking boy, those greenish-blue eyes sparkling in the noon-sunlight before looking down at his feet again. 

He just shrugged. 

“I guess I just felt like being alone for a bit, school’s been stressing me out already,” he replied gently. That wasn’t exactly the truth, it wasn’t the reason why he left the cafeteria, but he didn’t need to bother this new kid with his issues with his buddies on the team. Brian just nodded, accepting the reply and taking another big chomp from his apple, making Stef giggle a tiny bit with the noise. 

“Maybe you should catch up with your reading,” he stated flatly in a serious tone that one of his professors would give him as Stef looked at him wide-eyed, cocking an eyebrow. He stared at Brian like he was crazy until it broke the ice and they both began to laugh softly. 

“Right, I’ll get on that,” joked Stef back, rolling his eyes playfully. 

“Well I’ll leave you be,” said Brian, starting to put his text in his bag and taking the last bite from his apple and throwing it in the trash bin next to the bench. 

“No that’s okay,” he said urgently, frightening Brian a little and making him jump. Stef mentally cursed at himself to calm down. “I don’t mind,” he finished very softly… as if he were making up for the fact he had just scared him. 

“Well I was actually going to wander Luxembourg, walk around this place a bit. I just got here last Saturday, haven’t really had a chance with unpacking,” he said- a soft smile playing on his lips. “Want to show me around? My own personal tour guide, Mr. uh… er, sorry, what’s your name?” asked Brian, bursting into laughter at the fact that he hadn’t even asked. 

“I’m Stefan, but you can call me Stef. Everyone else does,” he said gently. Brian offered out his hand to shake.

“Stef-Awn has a much prettier ring than Stef! And I’m not everyone else, I’m Brian,” he said coyly with a chuckle. The Swede stood up and shook his hand. 

The Swede and Brian walked around Luxembourg for a little bit, talking like one would when they first meet someone. Getting to know what they like and don’t like, the little things- small talk. But when Stefan finally looked at his watch, he realized lunch had gone by and he was still carrying his bag and he hadn’t eaten a thing.

“We better get back,” the tall boy said, cutting off Brian unintentionally. 

“Huh?”

“Its 12:52,” he said, as Brian was the one to cock his eyebrow this time.

“So? You didn’t even get to eat yet, want to stop off at my place?” he offered, smiling. Stef stopped in his tracks, their conversation had been quite… normal. Talking about music, where he moved from, things he liked, what he did for fun… but he was pretty sure he was talking to a goody two-shoes.” 

“But… you want to skip!?” Stef asked, truly shocked. Brian just laughed. 

“It’s the beginning of the year, what can we miss? I don’t live far away from the school, we can hang out there and then you can eat your lunch!” he said matter-of-factly, pointing to the brown paper bag still in Stef’s hands. “My parents are both at work, come on,” he verbally nudged until he grabbed the taller boy’s arm and pulled him across the street. 

“Are you sure?” asked Stef, he hated to sound like… well a loser, but he didn’t want to get a call home from the principle that he had skipped. 

“What if the school ca-,” Brian cut him off like he had read the taller boy’s mind.

“Leave the phone off the hook accidentally in a room upstairs so your parents won’t notice and you won’t get the call,” he said like he was an expert on the matter- winking. The Swede just laughed, thinking the advice was rather… smart! And after a shit day and friend’s peer pressure, maybe playing hooky was just what the Swede needed.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Chapter 3

Stefan and Brian made their way up the walkway to the smaller boy’s house, feeling so nervous and strange. He wasn’t one to do things like this, aside from playing basketball and sneaking the odd can of beer with the guys, he was generally a good kid. And his parents expected that of him. He watched Brian hurry ahead of him with a little key in hand that he pulled out of his bag to unlock the front door.

“Okay, I’ll stay a little bit,” said the Swede softly- unsure if he was reassuring himself or Brian… “Eat some lunch, but after that I should go back. We should go back,” he finished a little louder, looking at Brian. The girly boy looked back at him and chuckled, giving a little wink at Stef for being so nervous at playing a little hooky. 

“Of course,” Brian quipped.

When they entered the front door, Stef strained his neck and looked around in the same spot. The inside of the two-storey house was rather nice… clean and tidy. 

“Fall cleaning?” offered Stef, jokingly as he looked around to try and find one speck of dust anywhere. There truly was none. He thought his mother kept his house spotless, this was just immaculate. Brian rolled his eyes hastily.

“The maid, Ruth. She comes twice a week,” he sighed, removing his shoes, Stef watching him and doing the same with his own. “She’s a real nice older Russian woman. I see her more than my own parents sometimes,” he finished, laughing almost sarcastically. “I’m going to go grab a soda. Want one?” he offered the tall boy who was looking all over like he had never been in a house before. Knowing his apple juice box that his own mum packed him was probably warm from walking out in the sun with his lunch bag, he nodded, knowing he could really use something cold. 

“Uh, sure. Coke or Pepsi is good if you have?” he said, smiling, appreciating the hospitality. Brian nodded, smiling as he grabbed two cans of Pepsi from the fridge and a bag of crisps from the cupboard above… after grabbing the small stool near the table to reach it. The Swede chuckled at how precious that was.

“Two sodas and a snack,” Brian said laughing, holding up the goodies while Stef gave him a little thumbs up. He couldn’t quite believe he was having a lunch snack and skipping school with a boy he had just met in class earlier this morning. Although if truth be told, it sure was a hell of a lot more fun than being peer pressured by his so-called friends! “Let’s go to my room so we don’t make a mess,” he giggled sneakily- not wanting to leave any evidence behind that he had been home during a time he wasn’t supposed to. 

Once they got to Brian’s room, Stef stopped in the doorway before looking around. David Bowie and The Cure posters covered the walls. He smiled- he loved both of those artists as well. Sadly, the only poster he owned himself was an ABBA one that he hid in his closet because his teammates teased him about it constantly whenever they hung out at his place… so hiding it seemed like the best solution, so hidden it stayed.

The Swede, however, giggled when he looked over to his left- directly across from the bed was… was this giant poster of Audrey Hepburn. He gave the poster an odd look, thinking how random and out of placed it seemed!

“Audrey… Hepburn?” he asked, looking at Brian as the small boy put their cans on the floor with the bag of crisps where he planned for them to eat. The Swede only knew who Audrey was in the first place because his mother watched movies with her in it and forced him, his father and Stef’s older sister to do the same. Brian looked shocked that the taller boy would even question his poster.

“Yes!! Audrey Hepburn! A lady of true grace, poise, and beauty! She is a role model of class, more women should aspire to be like her, I know I do! She’s one of my idols!” he finished confidently, hands on his hips. Stef bit his lip a bit before bursting into laughter as Brian leered. “What?!” Stef put his hands up in defense, truly not wanting to offend him.

“Nothing, I’m sorry,” he chuckled, calming down as he sat down on the floor where the drinks were, putting down his lunch bag on the soft gray carpet. “I just… have never met a boy who aspires to be like Audrey Hepburn,” he said softly, looking up at him sweetly. Brian’s eyes glimmered in his bedroom light as he winked, giving a smirk.

“I already told you, Stef-AWN,” he said happily, “I’m not like everyone else!” The Swede chuckled softly, scratching the back of his neck nervously again. 

“Right, of course,” he said quietly as Brian opened up the bag of salt n’ vinegar crisps and offered him some. “Thanks! Hopefully my sandwich won’t be complete mush,” he said, taking it out and undoing it from the plastic wrap.

“That looks not half bad,” stated Brian, putting out his bottom lip a bit in approval. The Swede smiled taking a bite. It was ham with lettuce and a bit of mayonnaise on whole wheat bread and to his luck, it wasn’t all that squished!

“My mum made it,” he admitted, blushing. Brian’s eyes widened.

“Your mum makes your lunches?” the small boy looked rather surprised, but Stefan nodded softly, still blushing at what he had just admitted to someone. No one knew his mum made his lunch but his family.

“I guess that’s pretty lame at 15,” Stefan chuckled. “I tell my friends I make it; they’d probably find it lame too if I told them.” Brian shook his head, like he realized the Swede misunderstood why he was shocked in the first place. 

“Your mum takes her time to make you a lunch, I think it’s sweet! I wish my mum was home more often to do stuff like that! She’s always out! She’s a real-estate agent, always on the damn go. I make my lunch or Ruth does or I just don’t have one,” he said gently, rolling his eyes and popping open his can of Pepsi. Stefan took another bite of his sandwich, cocking an eyebrow for a moment at how that little bit of information seemed to bother him a bit as the small boy’s smile faded. 

“You don’t see your parents much, huh? Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Brian shook his head, taking another gulp of his soda and reaching for some more crisps out of the bag. 

“Nah, they’re always working and I’m the only child,” he said softly. “I don’t think they like me very much anyway, hell I don’t think they even wanted a kid,” he finished quickly. “OH! Hey wanna see something awesome?” he asked in an entirely different tone- clearly attempting to change the subject before Stef could really continue with any more questions.

“They’re your parents! Of course they like you!” stated the Swede flatly, cocking another eyebrow at him like he was crazy. He had only known this boy for a day and had no idea what his parents were like… but in the Swede’s mind, he was raised to believe family was very important. And to even imagine someone’s parents not even liking their own child seemed unfathomable. Brian ignored the little statement altogether. 

“Look at this baby,” said Brian happily, pulling out what looked like a bright red Telecaster. Stefan quickly swallowed the last bite of his sandwich he was working on as he stared at it.

“WOW!!!” He had been saving up his money for a new bass for months now, not that any of his friends knew that. 

“It’s a Telecaster replica… I convinced my dad to get it for me, probably so I’d stop asking! But once I save up enough money, I’m going to buy a real one! But for now, ain’t she a beauty? I named her Rose!” sighed the singer happily, practically hugging the guitar to himself. “It’s the only thing that really makes me feel better when I’m down,” the small boy giggled, placing the instrument on his bed before sitting back down on the carpet next to Stef. The Swede stared at the lovely piece of musical equipment on his bed before looking back at Brian.

“Guitars?” he asked. Brian smiled again.

“Music. Music in general. Whenever I feel alone… which is pretty much all the time, music is the only thing that never judges you, nor makes me feel alone! Y’know?” he said softly, shrugging and reaching for another crisp. The Swede stared, nodding. He knew exactly what Brian meant even though Brian probably thought he had no idea. 

Stefan had every idea of what it was like to feel completely alone when you had so many people around you. To feel like no one completely understood you when everyone around you thought they did. To be in a room full of people and still be alone! He knew exactly what it was like, he’d felt like that for years.

“So are you going to tell me the truth, Stef-AWN?” asked Brian, pronouncing the taller boy’s name just the way he liked it. The Swede looked around the room a bit with his eyes, not moving his head like he had no idea what he was talking about.

“Huh?” Brian giggled, taking another chug from his Pepsi and then crossing his legs on the floor and staring at the Swede only a few feet from him on his bedroom carpet. Stefan just shrugged.

“Like I said… school,” he replied as casually as possible and quietly as possible! Brian smirked again, the Swede noticing how pretty and baby-like his face was to begin with. He sure hadn’t ever seen anyone that looked like him before. 

“Uh huh! And I said the REAL reason,” spat Brian, leaning back against the end of his bed as he watched the tall boy get nervous and scratch the back of his neck once more- grabbing his own Pepsi and finally opening it.

“I guess,” Stef started, thinking of how to word this. Why he was admitting this to Brian out of everyone he wasn’t too sure… maybe because he was sure Brian wouldn’t tell anyone or because he really had an urge to say it to someone. “My friends expect me… to be just like them. Be into the same girls they’re into… be into the same things they’re into. It’s not fair and it gets on my nerves. If I want a girlfriend, I’ll let them know and all they do is bug me about it!” he spat in a huff, propping his head up with his hand. Brian tilted his head to his side. 

“I thought all the basketball players were supposed to shag all the cheerleaders,” giggled the smaller boy, making a funny little humping motion while sitting cross-legged. It made Stef giggle and he smiled a little.

“Well not for me, thanks. I don’t find them all so sexy and ‘hot’,” started Stef as he put air quotes with his slender fingers around ‘hot’. 

“More into the other players?” offered Brian, chuckling as he took his can of Pepsi and took a swig. Stef’s smile vanished, looking up at him quickly, taken back by the statement. 

“What? No,” he said gently, but a little more defensively than he meant it to come out as. “Of course not.” Brian’s smile faded a bit, having hoped the tall boy would have had a different answer.

“Do you like David Bowie?” he asked casually, changing the subject for him. The Swede nodded quickly.

“Ziggy Stardust is my favorite, I love him!” he stated and the smaller boy’s smile came right back.

“Me too! Adore him!! I’ve been trying to play a few of his tracks on my new guitar!” Brian and Stefan laughed, both grabbing for some crisps at the same time, their hands clashing and both pulling back just a tad. 

“Heh, sorry,” said Stef softly, pulling his big hand out of the way as Brian smirked and leaned in to grab some before offering the bag to the Swede. “I should get back to school, but you should play me something sometime.” Brian’s smile faded as he stood up at the same time the Swede did. 

“You’re going already?” he asked sadly, Stef a little amazed at how sweet and confident this boy could be one minute and look so ‘heart-broken’ the next. “You’re stressed out,” chuckled Brian. “Stay a bit longer. Hey! You smoke?” he asked, walking over to his night table placed next to the side of his double bed and grabbing a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. 

“You've smoked?!” The Swede exclaimed, then wishing he hadn’t sounded like such a damn prude. God, Stef, shutup. 

“You don’t!?” exclaimed Brian. The tall boy shook his head, firmly. “Oh come on, one won’t kill you!” Stef shook his head firmly. 

“No way!” he stated. “I can’t, really.” Brian rolled his eyes, laughing at the ‘big baby’. “Besides I should really get back to school.” 

“Back to your friends to bug you about not having a bloody girlfriend?” chuckled Brian. “Come on!” he stated firmly, little hand on hip that made the Swede giggle a bit. The tall boy stared at the cigarette, scratching the back of his neck again and thinking about where he should stay a bit longer or head off back to school… 

However, he didn’t have a lot of time to think as the front door downstairs opened. Brian’s eyes widened as did the Swede’s in unison.

“FUCK! Ruth must be here early!” he whispered harshly.

“Our shoes are downstairs,” said Stef a little louder than he meant before Brian jumped forward to put a hand on Stef’s mouth to silence him. 

“FUCK! Get in my closet! Go!!” spat Brian quietly, turning the tall boy and pushing him towards the wood door to do as such. The Swede did as he was told, ducking to make sure he all fit inside the cramped compartment, wondering why on earth he had a thick, bright red sweater in there to begin with, because it was making the back of his neck itch like a bitch as he huddled down, Brian closing the door behind him. Closets were not meant for tall Swedish boys to hide in.

TO BE CONTINUED….


	4. Chapter 4

Brian latched the door of the closet as quickly and as quietly as possible. He didn’t want anyone to know he brought someone else home or his excuse would fail and be rather useless. 

“Brian?” called the older woman, her thick Russian accent obvious as the small boy wiped at his eyes, smearing his mascara and eyeliner a bit. Running to the mirror, he ran his fingers through his curly black locks, trying to mess it up like he had slept on it before swiftly stepping out of his bedroom and walking to the head of the staircase. 

“Oh hi, Ruth,” he called down innocently, pretending to yawn while holding his head a bit. She looked up at him, cocking her head to the side a bit.

“What are you doing home so early on your first day, dear?” she asked, looking up at Brian. “You remember what you’re mother told you about skipping class,” she continued, wagging her finger at him before pulling off her jacket and hanging it on the coat rack. 

“I was feeling so sick, my stomach just turned all morning, I had to come home,” he said softly. “I was just taking a little nap hoping it would make me feel better.” Even at 16, almost 17, Brian knew how to work those greenish-blue eyes of his, putting them on ‘puppy eye’-mod, bottom lip out a bit, and a sad look on his sweet baby face… the poor maid believed him every time. 

“Oh okay, sweetheart. You need anything?” Brian shook his head gently.

“No thanks, Ruth.” The last thing he needed was for her to come upstairs and see his soda cans and chip bag before he had time to clean them up.

Brian ran back, as quick as lightening, to his bedroom to basically inform the Swede that he had to leave out the front door- now! He was lucky enough that the maid hadn’t noticed Stefan’s shoes at the door and questioned them, but he wasn’t too sure how long this type of ‘luck’ was going to last. 

Stef waited until the smaller boy rapidly threw open the closet door. 

“Okay, I have to sneak you out so she doesn’t see you,” he whispered. “I’m pretending to be sick,” he finished harshly, looking over his shoulder like a damn ninja. The Swede had to chuckle as he crawled out and followed Brian as quickly as possible to the top of the stairs.

Brian waited and waited, inching down the steps one at a time to make sure Ruth wasn’t making her way back over here with chicken soup and a hot water bottle. Once he got to the bottom, he motioned for Stefan to hurry down. The tall boy felt like he was on some kind of secret mission and they had to be as quiet as possible. 

“Are you staying?” as the Swede when he finally stepped outside. Brian just grinned devilishly. 

“I’m ‘sick’, silly,” he quipped, giving a fake little cough. “I’ll see you in history tomorrow though,” he finished, giving a little smile. Stef gave one back- each sending a little wave to the other before Brian quickly closed the door. Stefan couldn’t quite believe that had just happened, sneaky little git he was, he had to admit. 

The boy seemed like such a little mystery, usually quiet Stef could read people fairly well, predicted their personality to be a certain way or type without much error… but this Brian Molko took his head for a spin and a half. He didn’t quite know what he was all about, but he did have a few things in common with him. Not just that, but he finally found someone in this town who didn’t think David Bowie was a freak. At least he wasn’t as weird as he thought he was.

He walked around the town a bit, letting his mind wander here and there and by the time he returned to school, the bell had rang. It was 3:00pm. He looked down at his watch to confirm this he could do nothing but scoff and chuckle at the time. Well that was half a day he wouldn’t get back but would have to make up for tomorrow.

“Oh well,” he sighed, making his way over to his locker to grab his backpack, turning the lock and hoping he could escape before any of the guys noticed. But of course…

“Hey you! Where the hell were you for gym!? Couch wanted to talk to you about practice tonight; we’re getting our new uniforms in!” Stef jumped, looking up at Brendon like he had just appeared out of thin air.

“Oh, I went to the library and tried to catch up on some homework…,” he lied. 

“Smart, man, I should have done the same! We just played badminton and did laps anyway,” he muttered, rolling his eyes as Stef let out a little giggle- grabbing his backpack. “Where you going? Practice tonight!!” Stef bit his lip, trying to think of an excuse to avoid it tonight- actually really needing tonight for homework now for sure.

“Oh, I-.” Brendon didn’t even give him a chance as he pulled the bag strap off of Stef’s shoulder and threw it in his locker, closing the door, and pulling him by the arm down to their large gymnasium. 

*-*

Walking up the path to school the next day wasn’t all too fantastic as Stef yawned. Staying at practice for three hours and then staying up even later to try and get some reading and biology work done didn’t exactly go as he had planned. He woke up this morning to the wonderful smell of used textbooks as his face had plowed right into one while he had tried to finish reading about the damn Trojan War. And he just knew he wasn’t going to be as lucky to not get called on this time. 

Making his way to his locker, he put his hand through his hair that he had attempted to style with gel. It’s Thursday, Stef, one more day and it’s the weekend- you can get through this drag of a week!

“Hey!” Stef cocked an eyebrow and the unfamiliar Brendon-type voice behind him. A little too high and… did he have a cold? Turning around, he chuckled as he saw Brian standing there, giving a little wave at him before making his way over to his own locker. Ah, the nasally abnormally high voice of the new kid. Wearing white jeans a cheetah print t-shirt, he stared a moment, actually having to take in his outfit. Where did this kid shop!? 

“Hey,” replied Stef, a little delayed with a grin before turning to his own locker to drop off his bag and grab his books for history. 

“Finish your reading?” asked Brian teasingly, winking as he grabbed his own binder and made his way back over a few lockers down to Stef’s.

“Not quite,” sighed Stef, chuckling. “Has your cold cleared up?” he joked right back, cocking an eyebrow. Brian grinned that devilish little grin he did so well, winking. 

“Go figure! It did… must have been one of those 24-hour flues going around,” said Brian like a miracle had just been performed. Stefan couldn’t help but burst into a little fit of giggles at the way he had said that. Brian joined him. 

“Of COURSE,” said Stef, playing along now.

“I’ll see you in class, I have to go to my classes I missed yesterday afternoon to grab my homework, grad year is going to be harder than I thought,” sighed Brian, sticking out his tongue a little and giving a little wave before turning and walking towards the staircase. The Swede couldn’t help but notice how cute his bum looked in those tight white jeans, watching him walk with such elegance.

“What the hell was that new kid talking to you for?” piped up Brendon, once again making him jump like yesterday. Stef turned, mouth open a little as he realized he had seen them talking- trying to think of a good enough reason… a believable reason.

“Oh, uh…,” he started, looking back at the stairs as Brian made his way up them. “Umm, he was asking me something about history,” he finished, looking at Brendon with a little smile. His friend laughed, shrugging.

“He’s weird and he looks like he killed a cheetah, skinned it and wore it to school,” he teased, laughing at his own joke before suddenly remembering a more serious topic. “And dude! We didn’t get together to read history after practice,” he laughed as if he just remembered. Stef rolled his eyes, knowing the chances of Brendon coming over to his place to actually do homework were slim to none. He always talked big and never came through on those types of things. It wasn’t a let down anymore, just an expectation. 

“I was knackered after practice.”

“I’ll see ya in class,” he yawned, still waking up. “And try to avoid that weirdo,” he finished before turning to walk into history just a few doors down.

“Yeah… he’s weird,” replied Stef quietly to himself, turning back towards the stair case to catch the last glimpse of the pretty boy. This Brian Molko was rather odd… and he liked it.

*-*

“Did ANYONE do their reading?” asked Mr. MacPhereson- sick of calling on students and asking them questions while being responded with nothing but a dumb stare. “Do you all think the exams are going to be open book?!” The class stayed mostly silent, some students giggling on the back, especially the jocks. Brendon tried to suppress his own laughter, Stef looking at him and telling him to shut up in a harsh whisper, not wanting to have attention drawn to them. 

“Mr. Olsdal.”

Fuck. 

The whole class turned to look at the Swede- surely thanking god that it hadn’t been they who were called upon. 

“Mr. Olsdal,” he repeated. “Please tell me the name of Paris’ brother, the other Prince of Troy.” The tall boy bit his bottom lip; he surely was going to crash and burn for sure. He had not a clue and he could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He let his own sight wander a little until they landed on the boy in the cheetah-patterned shirt, smiling at him before silently mouthing him something.

“Stefan?” asked the history teacher, cocking an eyebrow while waiting for a reply. Stefan stared off into space, or so it looked, while he kept his attention on Brian who was mouthing something in two syllables that looked like ‘heck’ and ‘or’- Brian mouthing it very slowly a few times before the Swede thought he got it. “Stefan!”

“Hector?” said Stef, almost as if her were asking a question, hoping that had been right. Mr. MacPherson just nodded, pleased at least a little.

“Well at least some of you have been reading the text. Next Monday we’ll be having a quiz, see how many of you dedicate this weekend to catching up on it.” The class filled with groans- clearly because they had better plans than reading their text, then again who didn’t? Brian smiled at Stef as the Swede mouthed a ‘thanks’ back. And he meant it. 

“Get into groups of three or four and take turns reading the next three chapters for the last fifteen minutes. I was going to do an exercise for you to make it a bit more fun, but obviously you don’t deserve it and I feel bad for the ones who did their homework,” he said flatly. “While I take the remaining time to create the two pop quizzes. Both years will have slightly different questions and in different orders and I’m going to mix you all up so don’t think you can cheat on this one either!” The class scoffed and sighed, making it fairly obvious he shouldn’t expect a fruit basket from a student any time soon. 

Everyone split up instantly and even though they were all teens, Stefan noticed they hurried towards their friends like pre-schoolers. Some things simply never changed even with age apparently. Brendon pushed his desk closer to Stef’s as Trent grabbed his chair and moved closer as well. 

“Guuuyys!” Trent said rather loudly. “Next three chapters? Dude! I haven’t even started this novel yet!” Stefan rolled his eyes. Trent could be such a … dumbarse.

“It’s a textbook, not a novel.” 

“And keep your voice down,” chimed in Brendon, hushing him while looking at MacPherson to make sure he hadn’t heard that. Luckily he was talking to Brian at his desk.

“Boys!” called their teacher, “Can Brian join you three? He doesn’t have a group.” The small boy looked over at them, smiling when he noticed the group of boys had Stef in it.

“Sure!” said Stef a little too cheerily as Brendon and Trent looked at him like he had just signed them up for ballet or something as equally embarrassing and traumatic.

“Thank you, boys. There you go, Brian.” The small boy smiled and nodded- grabbing his book before making his way over. 

“Oh my GOD- why did you say ‘yes’?” asked Brendon, looking at the poor boy like he had two heads before turning to look at his friend for an explanation.

“We’re just reading a text until the end of class, which is soon. And he needs a group. MacPhereson would have gotten angry with us if I had said ‘no’,” defended the Swede as Brian pulled a chair nearby up the Stefan’s desk.

“Thanks for letting me in your group,” he said with a friendly smile as Brendon sighed. 

“Least we’ll have someone who knows what’s going on,” said Stef optimistically as Brendon gave him a weird look.

“Nice shirt, where did you get it? Skin a cat?” asked Brendon sarcastically, laughing at his own joke and nudging Trent to laugh with him… which he did eventually after understanding that he was supposed to play along in a sad attempt to tease him. Stef looked over at Brendon to leer, but his friend took no notice.

“Um, I got it from a vintage shop when I lived in Paris,” Brian responded politely- not letting him test his patience too much. “Anyway, I’ve been making a few jot notes in each chapter to remind me of the main events in each one because the quiz will probably be mostly time-stamped questions. What happened first and so-on in the chain of events to see who’s been keeping up. I’ll let you guys copy my notes to help catch up,” he said sweetly, pulling out his baby pink notebook he had been using as a bookmark in his text.

“That’s a good idea,” chimed Stefan, grabbing some loose-leaf from the back of his notebook.

At this point, if Brendon rolled his eyes in his head anymore, they’d fall out of his head especially when he saw Trent grabbing some paper as well.

“Jot notes?! You’re such a loser,” he scoffed, throwing his text on his desk and crossing his arms in a huff. 

“Brendon!” said Stef angrily, giving his good friend a dirty look for being so damn rude.

“And how can YOU not think so too!?” spat Brendon, trying to keep his voice down while looking at the small girly boy with the cheetah-print shirt, white jeans, and boots meant for a goth kid like he was some type of insect that needed to be squashed quickly. 

“Well the ONLY losers on Monday will be the ones with a giant ‘F’ on their quiz and by the looks of it; you’ll probably be one of them,” Brian snipped bitchily while crossing his legs in the chair and passing Stef his notebook to copy his jot notes.

When the bell finally rang, Brendon couldn’t be happier as he grabbed his binder and books and headed out of the class as if he were on fire, making it obvious he was pissed as he threw open the door.

“Respect for school property, Brendon!” called Mr. MacPherson, rolling his eyes. “See you tomorrow class and just because it’s Friday does not give you license to skip it!” he called out as the class started to pour out.

“Thanks for the notes, Brian,” said Stef, giving the pink book back to the small boy.

“What was HIS problem?” spat Brian, rather annoying as he shoved it in his binder. Stef just shrugged.

“He’s just a little taken back by you, I think,” sighed Stef, chuckling. 

"He has issues!" he spat, rather cross before turned to look at Stef with a change of tune.

“Well do you want to get together after school? Y’know… legit hang out, not sneak around from our house maid,” said Brian flatly before bursting out into little giggles, as did Stefan.

“Sounds great but I have to go to basketball practice tonight,” he sighed sadly, giving an obvious look of disappointment because if truth be known, he really didn’t feel like going. His desire to play the game was dying and he was losing interest pretty fast but knew he couldn’t just quit.

Brian looked equally disappointed as his smile faded.

“Oh. Well, another time then?” Stef nodded quickly. “See ya.” The Swede couldn’t help but be a little upset and saddened as he watched Brian head out of the room ahead of… knowing full well hanging out with Brian and talking about music with some crisps would be a hell of a lot more fun than practice... 

TO BE CONTINUED....


	5. Chapter 5

By the time lunch had come, Stefan’s day seemed to have slowly gone more and more downhill. Homework after homework and his mother had been asking if he had been staying on top of his school work, forcing him to fib when he really hated lying to his mum and dad. 

Grabbing his lunch bag out of his locker, he kept one eye on Brian’s… hoping to see him … y’know, just to say ‘hi’. But sadly, a few minutes waiting around, he didn’t show. The lunch bell had just rang, he was sure Brian hadn’t hurried, got his lunch… or apple and just hurried off. Though he didn’t get a chance to ponder long and hard about it as Brendon came up behind him, giving him a hard friendly pat on the back.

“Hey! Ready for lunch?” Stef nodded slightly, glad that at least his friend wasn’t in too much of a mood after the incident in history earlier in the morning. When they got to the lunch table, Stefan let his eyes wander around the large cafeteria, scanning it in a kind of hope that he’d see Brian in the cafeteria- but he couldn’t spot him.

“Heeeey Stefan! You still going to Clarissa’s party this weekend?” asked one of the guys. The Swede rolled his eyes. Fuck sake. He had hoped that this wasn’t going to be a topic of conversation again! However, Brendon actually made an attempt to change it for him- on purpose or just by coincidence, Stefan didn’t even know. 

“So this season should be good, hey guys?” he said enthusiastically, trying to force a cheer out of them.

“Yeah! Let’s actually win the championships this year against Eastridge,” said their team captain, Greg, rather wittily while laughing. He was a year 12 student like Brian and one of AISL’s best basketball players alongside Stefan. Nearly as tall, too.

Truth be told, there had been rumors of making Stefan the new captain next year, but nothing had been set in stone yet and the Swede really didn’t want to take on such responsibility…

Sadly, after most of the guys had eaten, Stefan spent the remainder of his lunch hour watching his friends play basketball on the outdoor court behind the school. He joined in here and there and sunk the ball without fail as usual, but he just wasn’t into it today. 

He couldn’t help but let his mind wander to yesterday, sneaking around with chips and soda during class. He had actually been a ‘rebel’ in a sense and he hadn’t had that much fun in quite a while, which was a rather sad thought in itself. 

Stefan, however, was so wrapped up in his own head, he hadn’t noticed Greg nudging Brendon, both of them smiling and snickering as Georgie walked over to where the Swede was sitting on the bench. Her voice threw him right back into reality.

“Hey, Stef,” she said rather sweetly. Stefan turned his head, rather shocked, like she had appeared out of nowhere. He stuttered a moment before finally spitting out a greeting back.

“Oh… hi, Georgina,” mumbled Stefan as he suddenly pretended to be interested in the game with a few cheers. She smoothed out her skirt and tightened her ponytail before giving the tall boy a pretty smile. 

“So… Brendon and I were talking lately,” she started smoothly, an innocent smile still on her face as she pushed some of her reddish blond hair out of her face. Stef felt his entire body freeze, wondering what on earth they could have talked about that would warrant her to come over here… it hit him like a bag of bricks. No, Brendon wouldn’t do that…

“Oh?” he squeaked out, looking over at her, but too shy to really make much eye contact while scratching the back of his neck in habit.

“I really hope you come to Clarissa’s party next weekend,” she said softly, moving her body a little closer. “I’d like to have some fun with you too,” she finished with a giggle before winking and putting her hand on his thigh slightly, clearly having done this before. She was much more confident and forward with her actions than the poor shaky Swede was. Not letting her hand rest there long, she gave him a little wave before getting up and heading back off to her group of friends near the school. 

Stef swallowed, trying to get a hold of what she just said before looking over at Greg and Brendon who were now giving him the thumbs up. And in that split second, it was like he couldn’t hold back his anger. What had his so-called friend say to her?! On top of that, how dare they?! Who did they think they were?

Stefan got off the bench rather quickly, storming back inside the school before any of the guys could say anything. He was actually thrilled lunch was almost over because he didn’t know if he could stand to be around at that moment one minute longer. When the bell rang for the students to head to class, the Swede happily grabbed his books and hurried off to class, at least Brendon wasn’t in it.

He spent the rest of day absolutely livid, unable to concentrate on anything. He knew his friends pressured him, bugged him to go after some of the ‘hotter’ girls at school- but lying to one of them, saying that he had said something he clearly didn’t wasn’t fucking fair! 

Not only that, but he hadn’t seen Brian around at lunch at all and he had secretly hoped he could have at least waved at him. He was so fascinating. He had only met him yesterday and he had felt like he had known this boy for years… it was so odd. This fascination, however, did nothing but make Stef want to get to know him more. 

*-*

“Great, another pile of homework to do,” sighed Stef to himself as he slowly made his way to his locker to grab his gym bag and onto a tiring session of basketball practice. If he was so fucking good like his coach and the other players said, why did he even have to go to practice?!

“Hey! Stef!” called Brendon, running up to the tall boy who was now throwing his books in his locker in an unimpressed manner, hoping his subtle hint would rub off on his buddy. He was so embarrassed, he didn’t even think Brendon would understand.

“Don’t ‘hey Stef’, me!” spat the Swede annoyed. Brendon cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

“What the hell is with you?” he retorted. “Why did you hurry off at lunch before the bell?” Stef scoffed, wondering how his supposed best friend couldn’t figure out why or notice when he was upset! Did he not know him well enough after all this time!?

“What did you say to Georgina?” asked Stef; face straight and serious, looking at Brendon for an honest answer.

“OH!” exclaimed Brendon, like the light bulb went off in his head. “THAT’S why you’re mad?!” he asked, eyes widened in actual shock. “We were doing YOU a favor. We told her you were … ‘into’ her,” he finished, winking, clearing not expressing to him the exact words they had said to her. Stefan just stared, eyes turned to the size of dinner plates as he practically gasped loud enough for everyone in the halls clanging at their lockers to hear. 

“WHAT?!”

“Stef! Chill! You never make the first move on any of the cute girls, man! We were pushing you along a little, Georgie likes you,” he finished softly, smiling genuinely as if he had just done the Swede the biggest favor on earth. When in fact, the only thing Stefan wished his friends would do is butt out! 

“I don’t even like her like ‘that’!” he defended, his voice sounding a mix between ‘upset’ and ‘pissed’- and truly he was feeling both rather equally. He was so angry he would do that, but also let down that his own friends would know him well enough to know that would be the last thing he would want! It would almost be like if his own mother threw him a birthday party that was cowboy-themed and his mother KNEW he hated cowboys! It was the same idea, eventually when someone knows you long enough, you think they would know you well enough to know what you would like and wouldn’t!

Brendon just rolled his eyes.

“Man! Who cares?!” asked Brendon. “She thinks you’re super cute! You could totally lose your v-card to her at Clarissa’s party! It’ll be great!” He grinned happily, giving Stef another thumbs up, thinking the Swede would be as pumped about the idea as him.  
“I don’t WANT to lose my virginity to her!” spat Stef quietly so others in the hall wouldn’t hear. 

“Why!? She’s cute!” spat Brendon, really not understanding Stef’s problem, he was practically setting up the night to go without a hitch.

The Swede wanted to explain how he had zero sexual feelings towards Georgie, Clarissa or any of the other pretty girls on the basketball cheer squad. But he knew all the other guys did. He knew he was the odd one out and he didn’t know why… he didn’t know why he hadn’t gotten those feelings yet. He had been waiting for them to come for the past two or three years, but he just didn’t feel the same, didn’t get as excited as every other guy on the team did. So he just couldn’t say…

“Listen! Just relax, would you? You’re over-thinking this,” sighed Brendon. “I’ll see you in gym for practice!” he finished smiling, patting his friend on the back and running back towards the gym. Stef didn’t say a thing, instead stared at his locker and feeling every type of hopelessness one could have at fifteen. 

Reaching for his gym bag, he suddenly heard a familiar voice making its way down the hall. 

“See you tomorrow, Marty!” Brian called, waving sweetly at one of the biggest drama nerds AISL had, not to mention the captain of the chess team. Stef watched the kid fix his glasses a bit and wave back at Brian before heading out of the school. 

Spotting the Swede, Brian gave him a wave as well, turning to open his locker to grab his backpack to head home.

“Hey, Stefan!” he called, that sweet familiar nasally voice the tall boy couldn’t quite help but to smile and giggle at. 

“Hey,” replied Stef softly, watching him out of the corner of his eye- noticing Brian trying two or three times until he successfully opened his locker.

“14-16-22,” he muttered to himself until he finally pulled the metal lock open. 

“Um, I didn’t see you around at lunch today,” said Stef, attempting to sound as casual as possible. 

“Oh,” said Brian. “I found out your school has a drama club that meets at lunch hour on Thursdays and Fridays!” he said happily, grinning. Stef cocked an eyebrow. Drama Club?! Dear god… this Brian Molko was clearly going for social suicide. Only what Stef’s friends called ‘losers’ hung out at things like Drama Club. 

“You like drama?” asked Stef. 

“Yeah! It’s one of my courses! That’s how I found out about the club! You should come by one of your lunch hours, you’d like it!” Stef chuckled at how excited the small boy seemed to be about it. “But I should get going, enjoy your basketball practice,” he finished politely before walking away- pushing some of his black curls behind his ear.

“Hey!” called the Swede urgently, biting his bottom lip as Brian stopped and turned to look at him, clutching onto his bag a little tighter. 

“Yeah?” 

“Can I still… take you up on your offer?” he asked softly, looking down at his shoes.

“But I thought you have basketball practice tonight?” Stef just shrugged.

“I guess I’m just not feeling in the mood,” he replied quietly as a warm devilish smile lit up Brian’s pretty face.

“Come on.” 

TO BE CONTINUED...


	6. Chapter 6

As Stefan and Brian left the school, the Swede looked behind him, knowing Brendon, the others, and their coach were going to wonder what the hell happened to him. It was very out of the ordinary for the tall boy to EVER miss a practice, even if he had to drag himself to it. 

But today, the fact was, if he really gave the situation some hard thought. Contemplating about what he wanted to do and what he really didn’t…. hanging out with this new kid jumped heaps over basketball practice- that was for sure. So, holding onto his backpack, he let a little smile spread across his face, hoping Brian didn’t notice how goofy he probably looked. 

Making their way up the walkway, the Swede felt a little more nervous than he thought he should be feeling- looking around like he had never been there before while the small boy fished out his house keys from his bag. 

Brian turned back at the puzzled-looking boy, turning the key in the knob. 

“You coming in or what?” he asked sweetly, giving a grin as Stef took a deep breath, though unsure as to why. He always got random burst of butterflies around Brian sometimes. They would come and go and they were very unnerving and he was unsure of how to deal with them. He had never really gotten them before, at least not simply from someone else’s presence. 

“My mum will be home a bit later. You can go up to my room, I’ll grab us some drinks again,” he continued, rummaging around the kitchen like last time. Stef did what he was told, going up the stairs, stopping mid-step to turn around and ask Brian something that was plaguing his mind a bit. 

“I’m allowed to be over, right?” he asked. The goody two-shoes-Stef having one of his moments. But in all honestly, he didn’t want to get Brian or himself in trouble. 

Brian nodded, chuckling before soon following him up to his room with some snacks and soda, kicking the door closed with his foot. 

“I have to say,” the small boy squeaked, giggling at the Swede again as he set down the goodies on his floor. “I didn’t expect you to blow off your practice. You seem rather important to the team, y’know?” he finished, giving little air quotes around the word ‘important’ with his small index fingers. 

Stef blushed; shrugging it off like it wasn’t a big deal even though… it kind of was. He knew his friends, especially Brendon, would be rather shocked. 

“I just really didn’t feel like it today. My parents are going to be upset that I missed it,” he sighed- suddenly remembering the speech his mother had given him and about how important following through on a commitment was. 

“Will the coach call them?” asked Brian, popping open his can. Stef looked up at him, thinking about it. 

“For one practice?... probably not-,” Brian cut him off quickly.

“Don’t tell them then, no big deal,” he giggled, passing Stef his drink. 

“Thanks.”

Not tell them. That seemed rather dishonest and the Swede rarely ever told a lie to his parents, but the idea did seem tempting, he could avoid a talking to and a disappointed look altogether. 

“What they don’t know can’t hurt them,” he finished with a wink. “Want to put on some Bowie? I have his newest!” The small boy seemed rather excited about it, hurrying over to his record collection to grab the vinyl and put it in his player. However, the idea excited Stefan just as much.

“Yeah!” He hadn’t heard the most recent one because it was just one more thing to hide from his friends. They weren’t exactly fans. At times, Stef even felt like he was avoiding doing things he liked or avoided talking about them so he wouldn’t be made fun of and though he had gotten used to it, it had bothered him from time to time.

When the music began to play, he smiled, relaxing as Brian opened up the chip bag. They stayed silent for a little bit, munching away, but it wasn’t awkward at all. The Swede actually could admit he was rather comfortable sitting on his floor, listening to one of his favorite musicians sing while spending time with the other boy. It was just nice and he felt himself lean back against Brian’s bed behind him, giving a light sigh. Brian, on the other hand, had rolled so he was laying on his stomach, head propped up with his hand as he looked on the back of the vinyl cover. 

After the first song ended, Stef broke the silence.

“Do you like AISL- uh, so far?” he Stef. Smooth… so smooth. The Swede mentally cursed himself, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Brian smiled at the other boy’s cute attempt to make conversation. Truth be known, even sitting and listening to music with someone else was a nice change from his normal … ‘alone’. 

“It’s not bad! The drama department is nice. The last school I was at was way too small for one,” he said sadly. “So it’s rather exciting!” The cute little grin Brian had on his face was enough to make Stefan chuckle at how happy he was over a class. He’d never known anyone to be excited for ANY class, except maybe gym. 

“Why do you like drama so much?” asked Stef, taking a sip of his drink but keeping his eye contact pretty much… on the pretty boy. Brian looked at him surprised, like no one had ever popped up the question. Which to be fair, no one really had, Brian didn’t even think his parents knew he had signed up for it in the first place!

“Well, you can be anyone you want to be! Everyone, really! Even for a little while on stage! It fascinates me,” he finished with a smile. The Swede grinned. 

“Why do YOU like basketball so much?” the small boy teased, asking him in the same tone Stefan asked him in. The Swede blushed.

“All my friends play… and,” Stef thought for a moment as his mind wandered and trailed off. “I guess… I don’t like it the way you like drama. I’m just good at it,” he confessed. 

“I bet I’d be good at it too if I were as tall as you!” laughed Brian, making Stef smile again. 

“Or be able to reach the chips,” Stef teased back, remembering him grabbing the stool yesterday in the kitchen. Brian leered, extending his arm to smack the Swede slightly.

“Hey shutup! Not my fault I have short genes!” They both laughed together- Bowie’s song ‘I Can’t Read’ starting to play in the background. Brian’s face suddenly lit up a little brighter as he realized. “This is my favorite from the new album! It’s beautiful,” he sighed in a dream-like trance, his arm getting sore and propping his head up on the other one. 

“’Tin Machine’ seems to have a real different vibe to it over their last one,” retorted Stef. 

“I know. I think he just wanted to shed his pop-identity entirely, y’know?” Brian replied, smiling. It was really nice to be able to discuss his favorite music with someone else who actually listened to it. 

“But that suited him so well,” laughed Stef, Brian joining him as he reached for some more chips. 

“True. Bowie can pull off anything, he’s amazing,” sighed Brian again. Stefan was a fan of him, but the smaller boy seemed to be a rather avid one and it was sweet. None of his friends ever discussed or talked about music and if they did, they were usually talking about a new Beastie Boys track- not exactly his thing. 

“Like Ms. Hepburn?” teased Stef again, really enjoying poking fun at him just a little to rile him up. Brian gave a fake pout.

“Yes! Exactly!” They both giggled again, staring at each other as the laughs subsided, suddenly feeling a little awkward- Stef noticing once again at how Brian had such a beautiful shade of greenish-blue eyes. They seemed to pull him into a trance. 

Luckily, it didn’t last too much longer as Brian suddenly got up from his stomach, sitting up and grabbing his can to take a sip. 

“Hey, wanna play a game?” he asked, those eyes large and hopeful- Stef suddenly looking at him rather suspiciously. 

“Like… Snakes and Ladders?” Stef offered. Brian looked around the room, pretending he was thinking. 

“Hmmmm, or truth or dare.” 

Stefan stayed silent for a moment, unsure exactly of what to say. 

“C’mon… it’ll be fun,” egged Brian, sensing his apprehension. 

“Um,” started the Swede, getting nervous again as he scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not good at it.” That was a rather lame excuse, and Stef knew it, but it was all he could think of on short notice, even though one can’t really be ‘bad’ at truth or dare. “And it’s kind of a kids game isn’t it?” 

“OH and you’re so mature for 15, right?” chuckled Brian, giving a playful wink. 

“Aren’t you 17?” asked Stef flatly, cocking an eyebrow. 

“Not till December!” huffed Brian, a little annoyed, before they broke into a fit of giggles again at the situation. “Besides, it’ll be fun!” Stefan was one to often fall into peer pressure, but this Brian Molko wasn’t exactly what you would call ‘popular’, so he was a little unsure why he couldn’t just say no and leave it at that. Maybe it was because he wanted to impress Brian deep down for some reason or maybe it was something about the short boy’s sweet smile and the optimistic glimmer in his eyes…

“Oh, fine!' he relented. 

“Okay, well, what if I go first? Deal?” Brian could tell right away that Stefan was apprehensive about agreeing to play the little game, so he thought he would go first to make him feel a bit more comfortable.

The short boy’s gorgeous greenish-blue eyes shone in the light of his bedroom, the sun close to going down already on the cool fall day. That was yet another thing the Swede hated about starting a new year. The days were starting to get shorter- sun barely up when he left for school and the sun going down by the time the bell rang to go home. Talk about depressing.

Stef sighed and let out a half-hearted chuckle- nodding. Brian laughed, repositioning himself on the carpet, crossing his legs and waiting for him to initiate the game. After sitting in silence for a moment, Stef was confused as to what he was doing. “What?” 

“You have to ask me truth or dare! Haven’t you played this before?!” spat Brian, chuckling at the tall guy. Stef’s eyes widened when he realized.

“Of course I have!” The truth was, he had maybe played it once or twice, and usually he was too nervous to participate in such ‘childish’ games- too unsure of how it would turn out so he opted out to just watch. “Truth or dare?”

“I’ll start off small,” said the nancy boy with a wink. “Truth!”

The Swede sat there for a moment, sitting on this small boy’s carpet in his room and trying to think of what on earth he could ask him. He had so many questions swimming, but none he could openly ask- no way!

“Um… what’s your favorite color?” he peeped out.

Brian cocked an eyebrow at what was considered to be a rather… lame question. Was this guy serious? Stef sensed he was unimpressed.

“What’s wrong?” 

The TRUTH was the tall boy was too damn shy to think of something interesting to ask, to actually ask a question he had been pondering. He wanted to stay cool, stay collected and he had no idea why. Maybe it was a natural instinct for him.

“If you must know… it’s pink!, but seriously.. spice it up a LITTLE, Stef-Awn!” laughed Brian, reaching over to grab some more chips from the bag. “I’ll go again, that was pathetic!”

“Oh… okay,” said Stef quietly- biting his lip. He had to try and think harder. He thought back to a time when the team had talked about things they had gotten away with. Sneaking out, trying weed, what was considered rather rebellious acts in their teenage years. “Uhhh… what’s something your parents don’t know about you?” 

Brian grinned mischievously, a sparkle in his gorgeous eyes and Stef was sure he had literally just felt his heart skip a beat… over a boy. This was so odd. There was something about hat smile…

“WELL,” he started. “Mum doesn’t know that I periodically steal some of her makeup so that she doesn’t notice.” The girly boy winked again, picking up his pepsi can and taking a swig. The Swede cocked an eyebrow.

“You wear makeup?” Stefan, you’re an idiot- screamed the tall boy’s conscious. It was clear Brian wore makeup by looking at him. His perfect pale skin, his dark lashes, some eyeliner. It was subtle makeup, but definitely there. 

“Do you think my eyelashes are NATURALLY this full and long? Oh bless, Stefan, you flatter me!” chuckled Brian. Stef looked at him rather perplexed. There was no real other way TO look at this Brian Molko. He was an odd character and Stef couldn’t help but feel more and more charmed by him. He had never met another… boy like him. Even the way he held himself, with self-confidence, poise. It was so feminine, it captivated him. Practically all the cheerleaders at school walked like him, but he was the one who made him turn and stare. He just didn’t understand.

“Haaa,” laughed the Swede, blushing from the inside out.

“MY TURN!” jumped Brian. “Truth or DARE!” Stef swallowed, hard. 

“Uh… Truth,” he picked, suddenly feeling even more nervous than before. Brian chuckled.

“Hmm… what’s one of your most embarrassing moments?” asked the smaller boy, leaning in for some more chips. 

“Uh… I don’t know,” replied Stef all too quickly. Brian rolled his eyes, wishing he would try and put a little more effort into it! 

“THINK!” Stef scratched his head, pondering. He was trying to act cool and serene in front of this new boy, not try and think of stupid thinks that could embarrass him- much less SHARE them.

“Well… last year…,” started Stef, crossing his own long legs awkwardly again. Brian leaned in, like he was preparing for something bad. “I walked all the way to school with my fly undone.” 

Brian stared, waiting for more. When he realized that was it, he burst into giggles. Partly because the image itself was rather hilarious but more so at the fact that Stefan thought THAT was one of his most embarrassing moments when that happened to Brian all the time. 

Stef frowned, looking a little hurt, thinking that Brian was making fun of him. 

“All the guys made fun of me for it, it’s not that funny,” the tall boy pouted. Brian hoped the Swede wasn’t too insulted by his laughter and calmed down, apologizing quickly and opting to continue the game.

“Okay okay, sorry, that’s not a big deal anyway! My turn!”

“Truth or dare.”

“DARE!” grinned Brian devilishly. 

Stef thought for a moment. Crap a dare… what am I supposed to dare him to do!?! His eyes wandered to the chip bag.

“I dare you to… shove more than 10 chips in your mouth at once!” Brian began to chuckle, cocking an eyebrow.

“That’s IT?! Oh please! How juvenile,” he winked, making Stef blush again, at least on the inside this time. Brian picked up the snack bag and reaching in to grab a handful. “You’re going down!” 

“But don’t choke!!” Stef’s worry-wart side once again came through. But the last thing the Swede wanted to do was the heimlich maneuver! He watched wide-eyed as Brian started piling the cooked pieces of potato in his mouth. 

“T-EN!” Brian muffled out before chewing them all and eventually swallowing. Stef sighed in relief. “I WIN! Now your turn! Truth.. or DARE!” The Swede couldn’t help but chuckle at how ‘into the game’ Brian got and smiled. 

“Truth.” Brian pouted- knowing full well he was going to pick the safe option.

“Okay… well… tell me, when was your first kiss?” The small boy actually rather curious. He imagined it was rather early by how cute the Swedish boy was. What girl… or boy wouldn’t want to kiss him? 

Stef instantly felt his stomach tighten, his pulse begin to race, hairs standing up on the back of his neck and he knew why. First kiss? Stefan hadn’t had a first kiss. He hadn’t even been bloody close to one! And at his age… that was rather lame, wasn’t it? He stayed silent, Brian staring at him as the Swede fidgeted with his long fingers. He debated with himself whether to tell the truth or lie - teenage angst getting the better of him.

“A girl.” Brian cocked an eyebrow again, a smile on his cute face.

“Go on… who was she?” 

“Just a girl,” Stef said quickly, looking around Brian’s bedroom again.

“Don’t be so modest! Where did you meet her?”

“Uh at school. Two years ago… she moved away.” Yeah… moved away, so he can’t track her down and ask. Perfect.

“What was her name?” Brian asked curiously, still smiling.

Fuck. A name…

“Oh… Paul…a.” 

Suddenly, Brian’s bedroom door swung open, breaking the rather tensed-filled atmosphere, well at least to the Swede. Both boys looked up at the woman in the doorway. 

“Hi sugarplum, are you doing your ho- OH!” said the rather cheery lady. “Bri! Sweetheart, I didn’t know you had a guest! Is this a FRIEND?!” she said rather happily. Brian sighed, putting a hand to his forehead in embarrassment. 

“Yes, mum.” 

“I just got home from work, what a lovely surprise! My baby with an actual friend! It’s been ages since he’s brought anyone over,” she spilled, smiling a toothy grin at Stefan as she leaned over a bit to shake his hand. Stef did the polite thing and shook it. “I’m Helen, my little cupcake’s mum! Can I get you boys anything? Oh I’m just tickled pink he actually has a friend over after school. From school, right?”

“Ugh, mum! We were talking! And yes he’s from school! This is Stefan. Y’know… you could knock!” Brian was turning a deep shade of red at this point. 

“Stefan! How lovely! I think it’s just great you made a new little friend, sweety! Isn’t it more fun than talking to those silly vinyl covers?” she laughed- Stef unsure if she was just picking on him or serious. “All he does is stay in his room and listen to that damn Booty.”

“Bowie! He likes him too!” Helen continued, paying no attention.

“Hey, why don’t you stay for dinner! Bri’s father is working late tonight anyway, we would love the extra company! Would you like that?” The woman was talking so fast, the Swede could barely keep up. 

“Uh… I’d have to call my mum and ask. That’s very kind of you,” the tall boy replied as politely as he could- as he always did, it was the way he was brought up.

“Oh what a nice well-mannered young boy this is, you could learn a few lessons from him, cupcake!” she said with a chuckle before pinching Brian’s cheek. 

“Mum!!” sighed Brian, rubbing his face where she left a red mark, well not much redder than his cheek already was. 

“Well you boys just let me know if you need anything! And have fun!” she called as she walked out, closing the door behind them. Stef smiled at the short boy who let out a large sigh.

“OY!!! I’m sorry! My mum… doesn’t think I have enough… friends. It’s one of the reasons why we moved.” Stef tilted his head to the side.

“She seems nice… not enough friends?” Stef was a tad confused.

“She wants me to be popular…have all these friends like she did when she was my age. I just never have been like that,” said Brian flatly, shrugging. “I know she is a little up the wall, she drives me crazy too. Not that she’s home much anyway, but when she is… I’m sorry!”

“Ohhh….” He understood now, but didn’t exactly have a reply ready. 

“You don’t have to stay for dinner,” chuckled Brian, “really.”

“Oh, it’s alright, I won’t if you don’t want me to-.” Brian cut the Swede off.

“No no… you can… if you want to… but don’t feel like you have to.” The both sat in silence for a moment before they laughed again, almost confusing each other. Brian’s whole mood, persona seemed to change a little after his mum came in, he wasn’t as care-free or seemed to be having as much fun. She seemed to put him on edge. “I’m really sorry about my mum, she can be so embarrassing.”

“We all have mums,” said Stef, chuckling before scratching the back of his neck, more-so out of nervousness than anything. “Keeping a ‘friend count’ is rather silly, though,” laughed Stef. He thought he would go crazy if his own parents ever did that to him, though with him being on the basketball team, he was surrounded by lots of people practically all the time… whether any of them were *good* friends didn’t seem to bother or leave a concern for anyone though. 

“I didn’t think I’d find anyone at this school worth spending time with, least ‘after school’-time with,” laughed Brian. “It’s nice not being alone sometimes.” Stef looked up at him, happily. He couldn’t help but smile too. “SO… about that first kiss…” Brian giggled. Stef’s heart sunk once again- shit, he was hoping he wasn’t going to bring that back up… really thinking he had gotten away with that one.

“Oh… y’know, it wasn’t a big deal, what about yours?” asked Stef, wanting to take the spotlight off him and his fake kiss as quickly as possible.

“Oh… it was to a French boy, his name was Andrew.” 

“A boy!?” Stef’s eyes widened. He had read and heard about boys kissing boys, girls kissing girls, but he had never seen anyone do it. It fascinated him quite a bit, though. To do something like that to the same gender, rather taboo. 

“Yeah. I’ve kissed girls too, though! Andrew just happened to be my first kiss, I was only 14, he was 16. It was nice, though.” 

“Wow!” said Stef, like a kid finding out about the birds and the bees for the first time ever. “Is it different… does it feel different to kiss a boy from a girl?” Stefan had never done either, obviously, but he was rather enthralled by the idea, not that anyone on the planet knew that. Not even Brendon, he’d never hear the end of it, picked on to the end of eternity for sure. Brian shrugged sheepishly, grinning. 

“Well… yeah, it’s a different feeling. It feels so much… naughtier to kiss the same gender,” replied Brian, chuckling. “I like it.” Stef was staring, bright-eyed, listening to Brian’s every word, making the smaller boy grin a little more. “I guess you’ve never kissed a boy, huh?”

Stef blushed again instantly.

“What? No way! People don’t really… do that here.” laughed Stef, the kind of response he would give to the other guys on the team if someone ever brought that subject up, not that that rarely happened in boring Luxembourg. People were rather … ‘normal’, if he had to use a word at all. Stef hoped he hadn’t insulted Brian by the way he had said that, looking away a bit.

“Do you wanna... try?” Stef’s eyes widened as he looked up and stared at the other boy across from him, cross-legged, those pretty greenish-blue eyes fixated on him.

“What?”

“You’ve kissed a girl… so do you want to kiss a guy? Y’know… To compare?” offered Brian, blushing a little bit and hoping it wasn’t showing through his foundation powder and hoping even more that this good looking Swede would say yes. 

Inside, Stefan was freaking out, but outside he hoped he looked at least somewhat calm. “Uh…. I….,” Stefan Olsdal was literally speechless, not sure how to respond to the proposal. He didn’t even know if he actually wanted to or not… the pretty boy smiling at him sweetly. Not to mention, having never kissed a soul, he would absolutely suck at it. He stared, trying to summon some kind of words to leave his lips, any at all would do! 

That is… until Brian became impatient of waiting for a response and deciding that no reply was better than a ‘no’ and leaning in to take advantage of it. Within a split second, their lips met, soft and warm and so damn inviting.

Though completely shocked, the Swede didn’t pull away, letting Brian’s lips continue their ministrations while completely frozen before realizing he should move his a bit too. Why did first kisses have to be so awkward? 

When Brian finally pulled away, both still blushing, Stef felt himself turn possibly the deepest shade of red, breathing a little heavier and wanting nothing more but to lean in and do it again. But he was a boy… was this okay?

TO BE CONTINUED…


	7. Chapter 7

“Um,” Stef mumbled. His cheeks turned a bright crimson red, his heart beating like a drum- he only hoped Brian couldn’t hear it. The nancy boy chuckled a little, giggling. The small boy just couldn’t help it. The kiss was so innocent but so lovely at the same time. He wanted to lean in for another, but knew that would be pushing it. However, he had to break the silence.

“So… was that anything like a girl?” he asked meekly, this large greenish blue eyes of his sparkling in his bedroom light. Stef blushed even more, if possible, hoping Brian couldn’t tell how inexperienced he was- or tell that that was clearly his first kiss ever. He looked so pretty and was questioning himself if he could even be thinking that. He felt like such an idiot all of a sudden, his stomach having more butterflies moving around than he could cope with.

“I have to go,” replied Stef quickly, putting a hand through his overly–gelled hair and looking around Brian’s room for his backpack. It was the only thing he could think of and the sweet smile on Brian’s face instantly vanished, that being the last reply Brian had wanted to hear out of Stef’s mouth.

“What?” Brian squeaked, almost desperate-sounding. In Stef’s head, he felt like his face probably resembled a tomato and the sooner he left the better. 

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” mumbled the tall boy, practically tripping over his large feet as he got up quickly. Brian looked as if he were about to cry, but the Swede was so preoccupied with leaving as swift as possible, he didn’t notice. He was sure Brian thought he was a complete twat and what was worse- he didn’t think he was supposed to like kissing Brian as much as he just did. That wasn’t right, that wasn’t normal. His friends didn’t all get together at lunch hour to talk about how they made out with other boys. 

Brian frowned when Stef stumbled out of his bedroom in a whirlwind. Brian’s attempt to get a little closer to the boy he was becoming a little more fond of by the hour completely blew up in his face. He sighed to himself, putting a hand through his own black curly locks. Getting off the floor and sitting on the edge of his bed, he heard his door open and turned rapidly, hoping it was Stefan changing his mind. But to his utter disappointment, it was just his mum.

“Cupcake, when did you boys- oh,” she stopped, looking around his vacant room except for her son. “Where’s your friend? I made tea!” Brian wiped at the few little tears that were starting to form. He shouldn’t be surprised Stef wanted to go- he probably just came to his senses. Why would a boy like that want to hang around with a boy like him anyway? He wasn’t a drama nerd, he wasn’t popular or good at sports like him, he wasn’t anything like him. 

Brian just sighed and rolled his eyes at yet another one of his mother’s intrusion.

“He went home,” he replied in a mumble, lying back on his bed and staring up at his ceiling at a Bowie poster he had pinned up there.

“He’s not staying for dinner?”

“Obviously not!” Brian snapped in a rather bratty tone and rolling over on his side away from his mother- unable to hide his frustration at the whole situation. Daring Stef to kiss him when he barely knew him?! Stupid, Brian, stupid! There was just something about the tall shy boy that drew him in; he didn’t seem like the other idiots he was friends with.

“Don’t talk to me like that, mister! Anyway, I hope I see him around again- he seems like a nice boy. Oh and dinner will be ready in about 45 minutes.” She closed the door, leaving Brian alone, as he was most nights. 

“Yeah I hope so too,” he replied, to no one in particular. 

*-*

When Stef got home, he threw his shoes off and ran up the stairs, completely ignoring his sister trying to tell him something. It couldn’t be important right now.

“Stefan, mum wants you to take out the- Stef?” His bedroom door slammed. “STEF?” 

He didn’t want to talk to anyone and once he was safe in the sanctity of his bedroom, he shrugged off his backpack and made his way over to his bed before collapsing on it. His feet slightly hung over the edge as they always did as he let his thoughts take him away. Brian was so… what was the word? Strange? Odd? Those sounded so negative, but to him they weren’t at all. He had never met anyone like Brian before and he worried he had just looked like a complete utter loser. He was probably so much more experienced at kissing. And the kiss, so small but so… nice. 

He didn’t know what to think of it, what to make of it. He didn’t know of anyone he could talk to about it either. The idea of a boy kissing another boy, or doing… anything like that with another boy didn’t even seem like something that could be in his head until he met Brian and now all of a sudden everything seemed to fall into place in his head. The idea of kissing Georgie at that party tomorrow night made him want to curdle in the fetal position, but the idea of kissing Brian again on those painted pouty lips of his made his heart skip a beat and his stomach do a back flip. That had to mean something, didn’t it? 

*-*

The Swede had gotten to history class a little early, hoping to run into someone but wasn’t as lucky as he had hoped. When the bell rang, the kids poured in one after another, being extra noisy with their binders, books, and jumping into their desks that screeched across the tiled floor. Everyone seemed to be overjoyed about the first party of the year tonight. He slumped in his chair a bit when he saw the black bob emerge into the room by himself, giving Btrian a little smile to try and act normal when he looked his way, hoping he hadn’t been too upset with him for just up and leaving. Brian clutched onto his books in his purple t-shirt and gave him a meek smile in return before taking his seat near the front. The Swede hoped his cheeks weren’t as red as they were last night. 

“Hey dude! Where were you last night?!” asked Brendon, smacking the Swede’s arm as Stef sighed, knowing this conversations was inevitable. He had suddenly become aware that other people were in the classroom besides him and Brian in that split second and he was annoyed by it. 

“What?” sighed Stef, looking over at the other boy who didn’t quite have a smile on his face. 

“Practice!” Trent took his seat behind Brendon, looking for a similar explanation.

“Yeah, you missed it!” he chimed in.

“I uh… didn’t feel too good,” the Swede lied, his best friend cocking an eyebrow that basically said ‘yeah right’. “Stomach ache, really bothered me,” Stef continued, “So I went home.” He hoped he sounded convincing, but was pretty sure he didn’t. He couldn’t really lie his way out of a paper bag, his parents told him that constantly whenever he tried to get out of something, until the point he just stopped trying altogether. And he could tell by the look on his friend’s faces that they were upset with him. But to be honest, at that moment, Stefan couldn’t have really cared less about how they felt about it or about basketball. He had so much on his mind and it mostly revolved around one little guy. 

The class went by in much of a blur, most of which Stef stared at the back of Brian’s head, hoping he would turn around to at least acknowledge his presence once in the entire class. Brian didn’t turn in his seat once, even though he must have felt his dark brown eyes burning in the back of his head. He wasn’t quite sure what they had even discussed the entire time and he was pretty sure he should have taken notes. If there was another test on his lecture on Monday, he was screwed. 

When the bell rang, Stefan watched everyone grab their books and hustle out of the class before their teacher could even finish his sentence- Brian included. Sighing, he eventually grabbed his own and followed Brendon and Trent out of the classroom, though once outside the doorway, he stopped in his steps when he saw Brian at his locker. 

“Are you coming or what?” asked Brendon, prodding Stef’s arm to follow them. 

“Um, I’ll catch up to you guys in a minute, I have to grab something from my locker,” Stef lied again- poorly. He really needed to work on his fibbing skills. The boys just rolled their eyes at him and kept walking in the opposite direction as Stef’s eyes stayed on Brian in the large hallway. Walking over to his own locker that wasn’t very far away, he pretended to fiddle with his lock, glancing up towards the small boy changing textbooks. 

He couldn’t help but let his eyes wander, noticing how Brian had to go on his tip-toes to reach the top shelf of his locker, how his belly button showed, his purple t-shirt slightly riding up when he did that. His tight striped jeans a little too long and rolled up at the bottom, his black scuffed combat boots and his red laces. The outfit was completely… well it didn’t match, but somehow it suited him nonetheless. Just one more mystery about this new student.

Brian felt Stefan staring and turned towards him, now very aware of the tall boy’s presence- how could he not be? He was so damn tall and handsome, so striking, it wasn’t shocking that girls glanced and gave him smiles in the hallways, even if Stef never ever seemed to notice. 

When Brian made eye contact with him, the Swede could barely squeak out a salutation.   
“Hey,” he said softly, hoping Brian could hear him over all the noise. Brian waved back. The hallway was so noisy around them. Metal lockers clanging, students trying to talk amongst themselves, it was getting increasingly louder as it always did between classes and at lunch hour. 

Though Brian was being polite, Stef knew if he didn’t say something else or strike up a conversation, Brian would take his books and shuffle off to his next class without saying a word. Biting his bottom lip, he grabbed his things and hurried over to the short boy. 

“I wanted to say sorry, for leaving so quickly last night, it was rude,” he spewed hastily. Brian stopped shuffling with his things and looked up at him, determined to play it cool, to act like he didn’t care even though he did- a lot. He had to play the cool cover. The same one he played when Stef started talking to him on the bench, even though he had felt the same butterflies he did at that very second.

“It’s fine, no big deal,” Brian retorted. He was lying through his teeth, but he wouldn’t admit it. Stef frowned a bit at the way he said that. 

“Really?” Brian shrugged. 

“No big deal,” Brian replied in the same monotone voice, giving the tall boy another smile. Stef couldn’t quite tell if he meant it or if he was pissed off and it drove him slightly insane.

“It was fun,” Stef continued desperately. Brian looked down, pushing some curls behind his ears, the butterflies still fluttering in his tummy like they did last night in his bedroom. 

“You seemed a little… weird after that silly little kiss,” peeped out Brian, still determined to keep his cool. Stef stared, a little dumbstruck as to what to say. 

“Sorry, I guess I got nervous,” he mumbled out, scratching the back of his head and blushing. Though Brian was rather upset with Stefan for just leaving last night, if truth be told, he couldn’t help but giggle and letting out a smile at the other boy. 

“Do you want to hang out at lunch?” offered Stef. Brian closed his locker.

“I have drama at noon on Thursdays and Fridays, remember?” he quipped. “Besides, I don’t think your friends like me too much and they’ll probably want you around, Mr. Popular.” Brian didn’t mean to sound so bitchy, but when he was hurt, he found it hard to hide. 

“Oh,” said Stef, scratching his forearm in habit, he always felt itchy when he was nervous, it was terrible. He looked down at his big feet as he tried to think of something else to say. Brian sighed, unable to hide another grin at how cute and nervous the Swede looked. He wouldn’t have asked to hang out with him if he didn’t like him, right? Brian could only hope it was true as he thought of an alternative plan.

“My mum was upset you left so quickly,” he chuckled. Stef looked up and smiled as he noted the hint of humor. “Want to hang out in the park after school? It’s only up the street, right?” Brian offered. The Swede’s grin grew a little wider.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Meet you here at the end of the day.” giggled Brian, a smile on his face as he winked and turned to walk to his next class. Stef couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he turned and headed off to catch up with his friends. 

The Swede didn’t really want to admit to himself, in fear of sounding incredibly lame, but he was really looking forward to after school, even if it was just chatting in the park on the swings with Brian. Sitting at the lunch table as his friends rambled away, he was in his own little world and was liking it.

“So, Stef, coming to the party tonight?!” Stef was brought back to reality as he looked around the table of guys all staring at him. Brendon smiled at him, putting his thumbs up at his ‘plan’ of losing their ‘v-cards’. Oh dear god. Stef frowned, sighing as he just remembered.

“I have a lot of homework to cat-,” the table all moaned and laughed at Stef’s attempt at an excuse. Brendon face palmed right then and there and gave the Swede a ‘are you SERIOUS?-look’. 

“Come on, man, you have to go, it’s going to be awesome,” spat one, all the others seemed to agree. Once again, Stef felt like he was backed into a corner- his friends had a way of doing that quite often to him.

“It’s only the beginning of the year, there will be other parties,” Stef defended with an innocent smile. The others looked at each other, the Swede feeling rather judged and misplaced out of all of them- though he had felt that way for quite a while now. Brendon looked pissed as Stef put his head down and poked at his pudding cup.

“You’re going to regret it, man,” teased Trent. “First party of the year is always the craziest! Only the cool ones are coming, c’mon!” Everyone chimed in again, urging him to go. Stef’s smile vanished, as they all sighed and gave up. 

“Fine, less competition for the hot girls for the rest of us then,” said the captain of their team, everyone joining in laughing. Stef smiled a little too, hoping they would change the topic at any moment. And they did move on, as did the rest of the lunch hour, but Brendon didn’t say another word to him. He knew he was pissed, but didn’t know what to say to him- he’d rather have teeth pulled than go to that awkward party and be expected to have sex for the first time with someone he didn’t even want to kiss! 

Stefan tried to focus as much as he could in his classes for the rest of the day, but couldn’t be more thrilled when it finally ended- hurrying to his locker to grab his things. Brian wasn’t there yet but didn’t have long to think about it before Brendon strolled up from behind and tapped his shoulder rather hard, nearly scaring him to death.

“You’re SERIOUSLY not coming tonight!? Friday night! First party of the year! We’re the b-ball team! We have to represent, c’mon! Georgie will be there, and you’re NOT GOING?! Who’s my wingman going to be!” he spat, leering at his friend to back him up. Stef knew he just wanted a better wingman than Trent, but the last thing on the planet that he wanted to do was to go to this party. 

“Trent?” he peeped out as Brendon leered even more. 

“Stef!” 

“Brendon, I’m really not up for it, okay? Please, just drop it,” he sighed, turning to put his textbooks on the top shelf.

“You promised!”

“No I didn’t, you promised for me, listen I really can’t,” he replied, sympathetically as he could, but Brendon wasn’t having any of it. “I promised my mum I’d help her clean the house.” Oh god, Stefan, learn to lie- cursing himself in his head.

“Thanks a lot, good to know I can count on my FRIENDS,” he roared, banging the locker next to him before stomping off, a few people looking at the little commotion. Stef sighed, not going after him, not knowing what to say to him even if he did go after him as he put the rest of his books away.

“Hey!” squeaked Brian, that recognizable nasal-voice suddenly changing the Swede’s mood in an instant. Stef turned to him and smiled. “Ready to go? This day seemed to just drag, y’know? Geez!” Stef giggled and nodded.

“Definitely, let’s get out of here.” 

TO BE CONTINUED...  
Please let me know if you still want more?


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